Belichick focused on success more than succession

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Apparently, Bill Belichick wasn’t a big fan of the Colts so-called “Suck for Luck” season of 2011 that led to Indianapolis transitioning from the Peyton Manning era to No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck.

Manning missed that season with a neck injury and the remaining roster – including passers Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky -- put together by then-GM Bill Polian put up a 2-14 record to secure the top pick in the draft and another generational talent at the quarterback position.

Fast forward a couple years and the Patriots selection of Jimmy Garoppolo this week in the second round of the draft brought about talk of a Tom Brady succession plan among media and fans. But while Belichick acknowledged that theory to some degree talking about the Hall of Famer’s age and contract length, he also made it clear the early quarterback draft selection was also simply about having as talented an overall roster as possible.

And in making that point in his final draft press conference Saturday night at Gillette, Belichick chose to the Colts as an examples of exactly what he’d never want to see with his own team.

“I think organizationally, in our organization I don’t think we would put together a team the way Indianapolis did it when they lost [Peyton] Manning and they go 0-16, 1-15 or whatever it was [2-14]. I don’t think that’s really what we’re looking for,” Belichick said in an unsolicited reference to the Colts. “Unfortunately when we lost Tom [Brady] in 2008 – we had a player that could step in and we won 11 games. We want to be competitive even if something happens to a player at any position. I think depth is always important. You never know when you’re going to need it. But I don’t think we’d be happy going 1-15 if we had an injury at one position. But other people have different philosophies. I’m just saying that the contrast to that example. I don’t think that’s really what we’re trying to do.”

What do you think about Belichick’s Colts-related comments? Let us know with a comment below!